“I think overall this is a great day for Penn State,” O'Brien said during his afternoon news conference. “People will look at me and say, 'Why do you say that? We're in the middle of the sanctions and all these things.' But this is a great day for Penn State because it proves a lot of things about Penn State.

“Number one, we signed some really good kids that committed to us early and stayed committed to us when they could've gone elsewhere. … That says a lot about Penn State and not about just one coach or anything, but about Penn State.”

The impact of the NCAA's sanctions were felt throughout this class, and O'Brien insisted he wouldn't sit at the front of the room and tell reporters differently. When the sanctions were handed down in July, O'Brien sat in the team meeting room in the Lasch Football Building with the recruits and their families. He estimated that he fielded between 50 and 75 questions and concerns from the recruits.

Tears were shed and players opened their commitments again, but of the eight players who sat in that room with him, seven of them stayed committed. O'Brien sat in that same room again Wednesday afternoon, this time fielding questions about the strengths of the recruiting class.

“Time will tell about how good they end up being,” he said. “You never really know until they actually start playing for you. But, we're excited about this class.

“Certainly we lost some kids because of the sanctions. There's no question about it. I'm not going to sit up here and tell you that the sanctions didn't play a factor in some of the guys that we set out to recruit. But, at the end of the day, all I'm concerned about is the guys that are here.”

Running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Charles London breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday afternoon once the final letter-of-intent, from defensive back Neiko Robinson, was faxed. Robinson's letter came approximately seven hours after New Jersey defensive end Garrett Sickels sent his in early Wednesday morning.

London acknowledged that the Lions' previously established recruiting plan was thrown out the window once the program learned of the sanctions, which included scholarship reductions. This made the team's run-on program a top priority and also put more pressure on the assistant coaches to make sure they are spot-on with every recruit they signed.

“We have to make sure the kids are the right fit here at Penn State," he said. "The schools that can sign 25 kids, they can afford to miss on four or five (of them). We don't have the luxury. Maybe we go that extra mile and check with an extra teacher in the school or do something like that, just to make sure this kid is exactly what we're looking for.”

Making sure the recruits were “high character kids” was a large part of the process for both O'Brien, London and the rest of the assistants. London was the head man in charge of overseeing Hackenberg's commitment, and London's ties to Georgia helped Penn State develop some ties in the south.

Both O'Brien and London said they don't look at recruiting rankings or pay much attention to where the other Big Ten team's recruiting classes were ranked. O'Brien said one of his assistants told him Penn State had the third best class in the Big Ten, but that wasn't good enough for him. He wanted to know who the top two programs were.

According to ESPN's latest rankings the Lions had the 24th best class overall and were third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan.

Continuing to bolster the program's southern ties, as well as those in a 300-mile radius of Penn State, remain at the forefront of the recruiting plan for future classes. Having more success in the state bordering Pennsylvania would help.

“We need to get our roots into Ohio maybe a little better than we have in the past,” London said. “We've got to do a good job of recruiting those kids, recruiting them early, and getting in there. I think it's important that we establish our presence in the state of Ohio.”